Canon FD 35/2.0 Yellow Tint?

I have just purchased a FD 35/2.0 lense (breech mount) and it has a yellow tint when looking in the viewfinder. Also shows up on slides. A Canon tech told me this is normal for this lense, surely not! Is there such a thing as a warm lense?

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Thanks,

Vince

In fact there was an early version of the 35/2 SSC that is said to

have exactly the color rendition you describe. I haven't checked this

yet, but the same sources say this is caused by some special kind of

glass that's used in this lens. However, all this refers to the first

FD-version of the 35/2. This version has a concave front lens and can

be stopped down to f/16. The newer version of the 35/2 SSC features a

usual convex front element and does down to f/22. That's the lens that

I use - without any color shifts, of course.

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If you own the later version something's definitely wrong. Maybe the

lens was owned by a smoker before ?-)

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Dieter

That's probably among the factors leading to speculation that certain

lenses are optimized for B&W, since yellow is one filter color used

to increase contrast in B&W photography. Years ago when most

photojournalists used B&W film a fast 35mm lens was considered a good

substitute for the 50-55mm "normal" lens for available light shots in

conference rooms, etc. Just a thought.

Vince,

The yellow cast in this early 35 f2.0 SSC with concave from element

is from thorium in one or more of its elements. Thorium is used to

obtain a specific refractive index in optical glass. I own one, and

corrected the color balance using a Tiffen 82B filter. Thorium is no

longer used because it is a (slightly) radioactive element. This is

not so much of a problem being sealed in glass, but for manufacturing

working with raw thorium dust. I was surprised to see coloration in

a SSC lens. Maybe it was meant for B+W photography as mentioned

earlier. I shoot a lot of slides with it (with 82B) and love the

results. Mine also has B+H (for Bell and Howell) markings. The later

35 f2.0 lenses with "normal" convex front elements do not have any

color problems.

Karl